Like many other areas, the restrictions resulting from the pandemic have led the university world to accelerate its transition to digital, improving its online and payment resources.

Although the most visible impact of the pandemic year has been on university communities, students and their families, the changes have also eventually reached the higher education institutions themselves.

As Ellie Smith, Global Head of Digital Acceptance at Discover® Global Network, observes,

"the disruption in the educational process meant finding new ways to manage services, plan budgets, finalise payments, reconfigure tuition plans and make adjustments to expected revenues."

Although many of these adjustments are completely new ground for most university staff, the truth is that the impact of the pandemic on higher education and the changes required have done nothing more than accelerate existing trends.

The effect of this pressure is spreading at full speed through higher education, as the need to adapt administrative systems and the weight of new means of payment point to the need for university campuses to expand and deepen their digital solutions, whether in the academic field or on the financial side.

Digital flexibility enhances the student experience

Since, until recently, many higher education institutions operated on the premise that students and administrators would be physically present for a given administrative or transactional action, the need to overhaul the means of payment made available to them was not always a priority. This changed dramatically in 2020 with the advent of classes and tuition payments having to be made remotely.

By taking advantage of external platforms and bringing robust solutions "in-house", these institutions are now able to provide the agility and remote administration required by their suppliers, clients and students.

Among the leading providers of payment solutions for digital education is Flywire, a Discover member company.

Founded in 2011, this global network specialising in payment methods for higher education institutions has created a digital payment platform that has helped the education, health, tourism and business sectors to resolve not only their operational complexities, but also to optimise the payment experience for students, for example.

The way students prefer to make their payments - from the time of payment to the transaction methods - can vary greatly depending on the country and cultural background they come from. Therefore, allowing students to individually choose the number of instalments, amounts or payment terms was seen as a critical option for maintaining a relationship of trust between institutions and families.

A higher level of digital flexibility was also vital for universities to go further in their ability to provide means of payment and receive the fruits of those payments.

International students are a central concern

The inclusion of students from various backgrounds and cultures has been a key element in the promotion of diversity that the various higher education institutions have carried out in recent decades.

However, in the last year, managing the situation of international students has become especially complex, particularly if we bear in mind that these students are, in addition to promoting a more inclusive and diverse campus, an important source of income for many universities.

Traditionally, international students have been less able to take advantage of time-diluted or flexible tuition payment plans, but due to the new environment brought about by the pandemic and the great economic pressure it has brought, things are changing with schools looking to incorporate more flexible and affordable options for foreign students.

To address these concerns and streamline the process, schools have increasingly sought to engage with families and respond to their needs. By implementing automated software that integrates administrative systems with student information, universities have been increasingly successful in being able to provide real-time communication if, for example, student payments are delayed.

Revenue forecasting and liquidity planning

In addition to the flexibility to accept tuition fees, universities also need to incorporate tools to forecast income and balance liquidity. By incorporating these tools into their administrative process, universities can thus develop the centralised capacity to forecast future income and balance liquidity. This is particularly important because, as reality confirms, long-term planning is becoming increasingly difficult.

The issue of flexibility in tuition payments is not, however, the only factor of concern for university students.

A second study conducted by Flywire in the UK - which aims to attract 600,000 international students by 2030 - found that 81% of students would be "worried" if they couldn't finalise the payment of their tuition fees via the university website. When you consider that 69% of the students surveyed claim to pay their tuition fees online and 63% often experience a slow and painful payment process, it shows that universities still have a lot of work to do.

Although the scenario includes many challenges, universities have found that adjustments to tuition fees, be they general costs or payment flexibility - including the possibility of pre-payments - must meet the needs of students. By incorporating payments into a more comprehensive integrated system that, for example, also covers enrolment and accessibility, higher education institutions are not only able to meet the needs of their community, but also better predict their income and liquidity.

Looking to the future

With the e-commerce With online transactions becoming a global trend, the need for greater agility in payments will only increase, an agility that can only be achieved through digital solutions such as those offered by REDUNIQ, Discover's international partner.

Two different products stand out in this area of distance payments: the REDUNIQ E-Commerce and REDUNIQ@Payments.

Whether we're talking about universities, hotels or the retail trade, these solutions allow organisations to accept remote payments simply and quickly.

Whilst REDUNIQ E-Commerce was developed with those who have to deal with a large volume of transactions in mind and allows them to be accepted safely and comfortably, e-commerce payments with Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from all over the world with no membership costs and a monthly fee, while the REDUNIQ@Payments is the ideal solution for any business (restaurants, clothes shops, cafés, etc.) that sells remotely via social networks and/or marketplaces and wants to receive online payments without having to integrate the payment solution with a website.

As well as allowing remote e-commerce payments by email, SMS or WhatsApp, with Visa and Mastercard cards, without the need for a website or integration with the merchant's online shop, the REDUNIQ@Payments there is no need for integration (which simplifies the whole process in terms of time and costs), there is no monthly fee or minimum revenue (you only pay the fees for the payments made) and it guarantees that the customer's data is protected throughout the process, since the payment is made via a secure UNICRE page.

In addition to these two solutions, and in perfect harmony with the payment profile of the Portuguese, comes the Payment for Serviceswhich allows a business or organisation to receive MB WAY payments and issue ATM references.

Whether on a university campus or in an online catering shop, understanding the needs of citizens and their new payment habits inherited from the pandemic is a step towards a digital future.